The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-19
AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE.
Gov. Gordon Urges that Georgia be
Properly Represented at the Centen-
NAL Celebration of the Constitution
at Philadelphia
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
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ATLANTA, GA, Aug. Is, 1887. !


at Philadelphia.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
ATLANTA, GA, Aug. Is, 1887.
To the People Of Georgia: The centen-
NAL celebration of the adoption of the con
stitution will be held at Philadelphia on
| Sept. 10, Is and II.
The fifteenth day is set apart for pro
ceSsional industrial display. illustrating the
progress of the country in the last one hun
dred years.
The sixteenth will be devoted 10 a grand
military parade by the troops of the differ
ent States and Territories, accompanied by
their respective Governors with their stats,
and by attachments from the army and
navy of the United States.
The special services of commemoration
will occur on the 18th, at which the Presi-
dent Of the United States will preside, and
an Grafton will be delivered by Justice
Miller, of the Supreme Court of the United
States.
This brief outline will indicate the princi-
pal features of the celebration.
One hundred years ago OH Feb 10, 1877,
at Augusta. the General Assembly of Geor-
gia appointed Commissioners to the Consti-
tutiOnal Convention called to meet at Phila-
delphia. Under the articles of coufedera-
| ton the general government was wanting
In dignity, energy, credit and that great es-
force It's own DEGREES. The confederation
was discordant bankruptcy was almost
UNIVERSAL popular discomfort was increas-
ing, and the prospect for stable Republican
government was most discouraging. At
this critical iuncture, Virginia inaugurated
the movement for a stronger government
and a more perfect union, by granting
powers which experience had demonstrated
could not be exercised bv the States.
The convention met in Pllla1plphiA in
May, 1871. Its presiding officer was George
Washington. Many of its members were
distinguished for public services, for practi-
cal knowledge. and in the science of govern
ment, as well as for disinterested patriotism.
No assemblage was ever better fitted to
carry out the great purposes of its convoca-
ton. No great purpose was ever so success
fully accomplished by deliberative body.
The constitution which it adopted has been
for 100 years the charter of American
liberties. IT established a system of fedora
tive union capable of illimitable expansion,
with perfect safety as long as the Federal
government and the States kept within
their appropriate spheres
This centennial will be the grand jubilee
of the people of these States. Occurring in
PHILADELPHIA, which is so full of revolution
airy memories and associations, the occasion
will be fit one for increasing attachment
to the Union, forgetting all sectional differ
tHCtS III recalling tlt UtutHlUES anu IHt
labors of the fathers of the republic. It is
eminently proper that Georgia should be
represented at this great gathering of the
States. No State in this Union can more
appropriately, or with more patriotic zeal
join in the jubilee than Georgia. She bore
her full share in the formation of the fed
eral constitution When the call for CON
vention was made, she promptly responded.
When the constitution was submitted she
promptly ratified it. She was one of
the three States, / believe, in
which not a single vote was re-
corded against it, Whilst the great States
of New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia
were discussing its provisions, debating con
ditional acceptances, and urging amend
ments, Georgia accepted the constitution as
it came from the hands of its framers-and
in the hundred years which have followed
she has never violated one of its provisions
nor abandoned one of its principles. The
Executive of the State has no fund which
he can appropriate to secure a proper repre-
sentation at Philadelphia. Nor has the
Legislature the authority to make an ap-
preparation for such a purpose. | have
therefore deemed it proper TO coll the at
tention of the people to the subject with the
view to excite their interest and to ask their
cooperation.
When the constitution was adopted Geor-
| gia was a wilderness. Her population
| fringed the coast and the Savannah river,
and were in perpetual danger from power
| full bands of hostile Indians. Her wealth
| consisted in rude tenementS, in vast and
| fertile but uncultivated territory, and in
| the high resolve TO conquer oil obstacles
! and make successful free government on
this continent. Her churches, her school
| houses, her means of communication and
! all her appliances of civilization combined
| did not equal those enjoyed at this day by
a single neighborhood in a single county.
| Now she is a great populous common
wealth. rich in all things that constitute a
State and feeling each day the impulse of n
| greater and nobler development.
Notwithstanding the momentous social,
| political and economic problems with which
she has been confronted in the last quarter
| of that century, she may safely challenge
comparison with any of the great States of
| the Union in the average flpnncial indie
| pendence of her citizens, of all avocations
| and of both coiors, in the small percentage
| Of pauperism and of crime, in the registered
number of pupils white and coloreiD, of her
public schools in the proportion to popula-
| ton, in the number and seating capacity of
| her churches, in the peace and good order
of her society, in the impartialitv and purity
| of her courts, and in the loyalty of her sons
to the cardinal principles of the constitu-
| ton and to the union of these States under
| the constitution.
| respectfully urge upon the people to aid
| in having this State fairly represented at
| Philadelphia, so far as this may be practical
BILE, through her military organizations and
| by furnishing such evidences as we may be
able to present, of her marvellous recupera-
ton and material progress.
III the names of proper representatives are
| furnished me, | will appoint full delega-
tions from the different counties and asso-
Citations. j. Il. GORDON, Governor